ABOUT
AuroOrchard is Auroville’s oldest farm, founded in 1968-69 under the guidance of the Mother with the vision of “growing food for Auroville.” Spread over 25 acres of red earth on the eastern coast of Tamil Nadu, it has been a cornerstone of Auroville’s food system for more than five decades. Today, it produces over 50% of the fruits and vegetables and 90% of the eggs from Auroville farms.
The farm grows a diversity of crops—mangoes, papayas, bananas, guavas, citrus, roots and tubers, leafy greens, vegetables, and herbs—alongside a small poultry that provides eggs. Each year, these fields and orchards yield several tonnes of fresh food, much of it flowing directly to Auroville’s kitchens and residents. These numbers are never the measure of the work, but rather quiet signs of the farm’s steady rhythm of care and abundance.
In the last five decades, the farm has dealt with many challenges and transitions—ecological, physical, social, cultural, financial, and personal. Despite this, and despite the growing uncertainties of the world, it continues to hold to its purpose: growing food for Auroville and tending to the fragile web that binds land, community, and spirit together. For us, growing food for Auroville also means discovering what agriculture can be for a community and for future humanity. The farm’s work can broadly be described through the integrality of these dimensions:
Ecology
Begun at the peak of the Green Revolution, the farm once relied on chemical and synthetic solutions in its effort to grow food for the community. The turning point came in 2012, when AuroOrchard shifted completely to organic methods. It has been certified organic since 2015, first through a Participatory Guarantee Scheme (PGS) with other Auroville farmers and, since 2017, by the Tamil Nadu Organic Certification Department (TNOCD). Today, the farm practices a mix of permaculture design, agroecology, syntropic agroforestry, and traditional and indigenous methods to build soil health and enhance biodiversity.
Community
The farm continues to experiment with a collective yoga of work with a team of over 30 people who come from diverse cultural and social backgrounds and bring expertise and experience across many fields of agriculture. Alongside ecological health, AuroOrchard seeks to grow in ways that are socially and ethically just. We recognise disparities within Auroville and with the surrounding bioregion and try to share resources fairly with the team, depending on their needs and the farm’s capacity. The farm also aims to develop a new generation of farmers by offering a space for volunteers, new Aurovilians, and young local farmers to participate in evolving the farm’s methodologies.
Education
Beyond its fields, AuroOrchard is a place of learning, exchange, and personal growth, welcoming volunteers, students, and seekers from near and far. The farm is flexible with its volunteering and work commitments, allowing a diversity of people to join as and when they can, offering them a space to connect with the land, with the community, and with themselves.
Our major activities include:
Polyorchards
AuroOrchard’s approach centers on caring for old orchards, some over 60 years old, while also creating new ones and maintaining soil health through innovative techniques and biomass management. The farm seeks to grow food for both people and the soil. To support this, it applies techniques such as syntropic farming and successional agroforestry, which build natural plant relationships, enhance biodiversity, and strengthen the resilience of diverse crop ecosystems.
Year-round vegetable gardening
Our vegetable gardening focuses on year-round harvesting to provide a continuous supply of fresh produce to Auroville. The farm uses integrated practices such as raised beds, composting, green manure, and crop rotation to build soil health and foster ecosystem diversity. We are also developing innovative ways to use conventional implements like tractors with minimal soil disturbance, opening possibilities for larger-scale, ecologically sensitive vegetable cultivation.
Seed saving and nursery
We save and use over 90% of our own seeds, some of which have been preserved on the farm for more than 40 years. We also grow as many of our own tree saplings as possible, ensuring plants are adapted to the local conditions. Whenever we can, we share seeds and saplings with the wider community, supporting resilience and biodiversity beyond the farm.
Free-range poultry
We care for our chickens in open, free-range spaces where they can move naturally and live in harmony with the land. The farm keeps Hyline Brown hens, known for their ability to thrive outdoors, providing a steady supply of healthy eggs for the community. We continue to experiment with the highest ethical standards that honor the well-being of the birds while supporting Auroville’s needs.
Food processing (Abundance)
Food processing allows us to make the most of seasonal harvests and reduce waste. Surplus fruits, vegetables, and herbs are dried, fermented, pickled, or frozen to extend their availability. This work also diversifies the farm’s economy and creates new learning opportunities for working with food beyond the field, adding value to the farm’s produce throughout the year.
Education & research
Education and research help us build on what we have learned over the last five decades and continue to improve our farming practices. We collect and analyze data to refine techniques, share findings through reports, blog posts, and courses. We also host volunteers and researchers from different parts of the world interested in learning and sharing about agriculture. Our goal is to exchange best practices and support the growth of a new generation of farmers.
History
This is a little bit more about the history of the farm from its first farmer, Gerard. Though this interview was taken in 2018 and much has changed since then, Gerard’s story is helpful in understanding the essence of the farm and the vision that continues to guide it for over half a century.
